Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

A lot of politics is being played with this issue. The Government has of course questioned Fianna Fáil's credentials, and rightly so given that the latter reduced the minimum wage and signed up to the IMF-EU deal which demanded this so-called labour market restructuring. The Government also has described this Bill as being inadequate, which it is, but that is all politics. The Government has chosen not to oppose this Bill because it, and its Labour Party component in particular, is on a hook over this issue. This is because the base of the Labour Party's support in the trade union movement would explode with anger were it to oversee the dismantling or weakening of the JLCs. Were the Labour Party Members serious when stating they do not intend to oppose this Bill, they would be screaming from the rooftops both to see this Bill proceed beyond Second Stage and to demand the reconvening of the Dáil next week to push through this legislation, imperfect as it is, as a stopgap to protect the workers covered by the JLCs and REAs. Of course, none of them intends to do this because it is all about simply pushing the issue down the road before the real decisions are made in the autumn.

I believe I speak on behalf of low-paid workers who are affected by the JLCs and REAs and who are deeply fearful because their already miserable pay and conditions are under attack when I tell the Government that if it is serious about caring for such workers, it should give Members absolutely cast iron assurances that as a result of the review it is bringing forward, not a single cent will be lost from the incomes of low-paid workers. Moreover, it should provide assurances that none of the protections enjoyed by low-paid workers now covered by the JLCs or REAs will be taken away from them. This is the assurance they seek and I note the Minister, Deputy Bruton, has not given to them. This gives me reason to believe, as both Fine Gael and Labour Party Members are aware, that under the diktats of the EU-IMF, the Government intends to attack these low-paid workers, that is, those who already are the working poor.

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